


Origin Story

by TheArtsyBlatherskite



Series: Superhero AU [1]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Good Parent Eda Clawthorne, Grief/Mourning, JUST, Origin Story, POV Alternating, Present Tense, Superhero!Luz, also violence, at least for Owl House fics, at least for some chapters, don't be too scared by the major character death warning, eventually, first chapter is v i o l e n t, gonna hurt for a little while, i'll add useful tags later i'm tired, not luz, or eda, rated m for so much swearing, superhero au, superhero!Eda, they both dealing with some shit ok, this is an origin story for a superhero so someone dies, this is gonna be a bit dark, we get it out of the way early and it's not huge it's just
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:00:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29038269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheArtsyBlatherskite/pseuds/TheArtsyBlatherskite
Summary: 10 years ago superheroes were outlawed. Most of them listened, but a few didn't. The Owl Lady didn't give up and she's been fighting on her own for years. But there may be some Light at the end of the tunnel.(lol. get it. Light. Like, you know because Luz means- yeah...)Superhero AU. This is the first book, it's kinda... oof. Wasn't supposed to get this gritty and emotional but sure lets go with that. The other stories in the AU will be considerably more lighthearted but Origin Stories are supposed to put the hero through hell, so Luz I'm sorry but-(Also I AM still working on The New Normal, it's just I'm trying to write hurt/comfort when my irl ability to comfort people is basically Zucco going "that's rough buddy" so I'm having a little trouble but I'll get there.)
Relationships: Eda Clawthorne & Camila Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & Lilith Clawthorne, Eda Clawthorne & Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne/Camila Noceda
Series: Superhero AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2130309
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	Origin Story

**Eda's POV**

My feet hit the next roof hard and I grunt as I feel a small shock of pain shoot up my calfs. I’ve been vaulting over the skyline for hours now, and despite my training, I’m still _human._ I don’t know how long before the pain and exhaustion catch up to me but I can’t stop yet. 

For 10 fucking years it’s been like this, the minute those cowards gave in and threw their masks away I ha to start running these patrols _every night,_ covering as much of the city as I could, basically _alone._ Lot’s of jumping off rooftops. Lot’s of rough landings.

I stop to catch my breath. The police scanner isn’t reporting anything serious, anything serious I can _reach_ in time at least, so I’m forced to hold still, turn on an enhanced earpiece and listen to the city beneath me, straining to hear cries for help.

There are just so _many_ now. So many people in danger, so much _suffering._ Every night I have to do this cold, cynical equation. How close are they, what are they screaming about, how old do they sound. How many voices do I have to _ignore_ just to save _one_?

I’m useless. I’m alone, and not for the first time I find myself cursing the bastards I used to call friends. The people I used to consider “heroes”.

Useless

I’ve been out here for at least 8 hours. I hurt, I’m tired and I’m running on less than four hours of sleep. If I go like this much longer I’m not gonna be able to help _anyone._

_Useless._

I’m so caught up in self pity that I almost miss it. It’s so close, so clear. Somebody’s in trouble and before I know it my instincts kick in. I’m running. My lungs are begging for mercy and my legs are screaming for me to stop, but I don’t. I can’t.

It’s a woman. Can’t be past her mid 20’s by the sound of her. She’s so young. She’s screaming.

“ _Help!”_

_“Please!”_

_“Let go, you beasts!”_

My blood is pounding in my ears now and my breath is loud and labored, it’s hard to hear just what the girl is yelling but two words stick out clear as day.

“ **_My baby!”_ **

_A mother._

**_A family._ **

Shit! Three rooftops to go.

Two.

One.

There, in the alley. A woman with long blond hair is backed against the wall. _Jesus, she's just a kid._ She’s clutching something wrapped in a baby blue blanket tight to her chest. Two men are closing in on her now, knives in hand.

_Time to act._

I jump from the rooftop and land in the alley with a loud slam and an undignified grunt. _Fuck_ I need new boots.

The goons hear me and spin around.

They look… _happy_ to see me. Not scared at all. No screams of ‘ _Oh no! It’s the Owl Lady!_ ’ Just elated predatory grins.

Well that’s downright insulting.

In a flash I lunge at the man closest to their intended victim, my left fist collides with his jaw and I hear an audible crunch. With my right hand I grab the wrist of the hand holding his knife and squeeze at the base of his palm. He drops the knife and I pin his arm behind his back.

His partner is advancing on me now, knife drawn. 

The bastard is _still_ smiling.

I have countless moves I can use against this idiot but he hardly seems worth the effort at this point. I suppose I could use his partner as a human shield, but there’s a knife pointed at me. He could die.

New plan. I dive to the ground with the thug I had been holding pinned beneath me and let the other idiot trip right over the both of us. He crashes to the ground with an almost comical “oof” as his knife clatters 3 yards ahead of him.

This is…. this is easy. And weird.

They do _not_ make thugs like they used to.

I quickly turn my attention to the blond they were about to attack and tell her to run… but she’s pointing a gun at me.

The baby blue blanket is on the ground at her feet. Along with a fucking plastic baby doll.

“What in the everloving-”

_“FREEZE!”_ the girl screams at me.

What.

“You know…” I start “usually in these situations, the helpless damsel either thanks me or runs away screaming. I appreciate you mixing it up, kid, but the gun seems a little excessive.”

My sister always said I had a bad habit of getting extra snarky when I was confused or afraid.

The kid’s weapon is shaking in her hands. She’s new at this. “ _OWL LADY!_ Un- under the authority of the Criminal Vigilante Elimination Network you are under arrest!”

I blink. “You gotta be kidding me. A _sting_ ? There’s what, 2-ish active vigilante’s in this city and you boneheads think the best strategy to find us is to pull this weird routine in a random alley and _hope_ one of us shows?”

“Well it worked for _you._ ” The man beneath me manages to mumble despite his broken jaw.

“Um, shut the hell up! Nobody asked for input from _forgettable goon number 1._ ”

He does have a point. I must be really off my game to fall for something _CVEN_ tries to pull.

Come to think of it, who walks down a dark alley in the dead of night with a baby? And some of that dialogue did sound a bit comic book-cliche. ‘ _get back you beasts’._

Wow.

“Oh I’m an _idiot._ ” I whisper. The man beneath me actually _laughs,_ and I risk getting shot just to slam his face into the ground and shut him up.

Oh... I may have knocked him out.

_“I SAID FREEZE!”_ The agent pointing her gun at me shrieks as she fires a shot into the air, voice still shakey and now at least 2 octaves higher than before. “ _I won't tell you again!_ ”

For an instant, she took her gun off me. A tiny fraction of a second she left herself exposed. It can barely be called an opening but I have to take it. I practically launch myself at her, slamming into her abdomen and tackling her to the floor. For all her shaking and nervous energy, she puts up quite the fight. Every hold and move I try she manages to wriggle out of. 

I just barely manage to get her gun off her and toss it to the far end of the alley before I hear the screeching of tires behind me as a car blocks off the end of the alley. Guess backup’s here.

Their backup, that is. I’m alone, remember?

I’m still playing the world's lamest game of twister with blondy when I hear three pairs of heavy boots hop out of whatever ridiculous government vehicle they’re driving and charge into the alley. I can _feel_ the guns trained on me as three distinct voices simultaneously shout “ _FREEZE!_ ”

You know, I don’t think I’ve _ever_ complied when someone said that.

I immediately roll off the blond, slamming my fist into her gut on the way off before rising to my feet, but I don’t even get all the way vertical before someone slams a knife into my abdomen.

Right. Forgettable goon number 2. Forgot about him.

Son of a bitch stuck that knife right in the weak spot in my body armor. Damn.

Again with the “Freeze!”

I grab goon number 2’s head and pull it down to slam into my raised knee. He tumbles to the floor, completely unconscious

The alley echoes with the sounds of gunfire. I take at least six shots to the chest, this time hitting my body armor, thankfully, but still knocking the wind out of me. Fighting the urge to crumble to the ground myself, I toss three darts at the agents, each burying itself in one of their hands and forcing them to drop their guns.

Immediately I charge towards them, pouncing on one agent and slamming him into the other.

A nightstick collides with the back of my head and I can already feel something warm and wet dripping from the place it struck. I slam my elbow back blindly, it collides with the attackers throat and I spin around to slam the heel of my palm into his face, blood instantly began to pour out of his nose.

He retorts by slamming his helmet into _my_ face. I feel a tooth come loose and my lip splits open. 

Helmets. These jackasses are wearing _helmets_. I can’t just wack them in the head and be done with it.

I rip the nightstick from his hand and slam it into his sternum, driving the wind out of him and knocking him to the ground.

It strikes me just how quiet I’m being. Once upon a time, before everything went to shit, I’d be laughing and jeering throughout the whole fight. Making fun of these idiots, dropping cheesy one-liners, or even just commenting on the weather.

Now though… it just doesn’t seem worth the effort. It’s been a long time since there’s been anything to laugh at out here.

Something small hits the back of my neck and immediately I’m struck with a very familiar stabbing, shocking sensation. Stun gun.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three.

Oh boy.

I’m falling now. I feel off, just a little too weak in some parts. That’s fine, I’m the goddamn Owl Lady, a stun gun is easy to shake-

My head collides with the ground and I’m wracked with pain, there’s a loud ringing in my ears and my vision is fading in and out.

Someone’s pulling my hands behind my back and I can’t stop them. There’s something around my wrists now.

A hand tries to pull off my mask and I hear someone curse loudly as it delivers a powerful shock to their fingers.

I’m standing now. Someone’s holding me up.

_It’s so hard to think._

Focus, Eda. What do you see?

Two men in civi’s lying unconscious. My work.

A man in a CVEN uniform sitting on the floor holding something wet and red to his face. Again, my work. High five, me.

Two other men in uniform, standing by a black car, talking into a radio.

Nobody’s looking at me. Again, _rude._

There’s pressure on my arms. Someone’s holding me.

An ungloved hand. Delicate. White knuckles.

My hands are behind my back. Cuffed.

I’m fucked.

Am I fucked?

Yeah. I’m fucked.

Hang on.

The ringing in my ear is getting quieter, I can hear myself think again.

Ungloved. Delicate. Nervous. That’s blondy’s hand. 

Blondy’s in civi’s too.

No helmet.

Nobody’s watching me.

Nobody’s holding their guns.

Blondy doesn’t have a helmet.

Not fucked.

Without warning I slam my head backwards and it collides painfully with hers.

Aaaand the ringing’s back.

Her grip on me loosens enough that I can slip out.

One sweep of the leg and she’s gone. A quick kick to the head and she’s out.

Not fucked.

The two goons with the radio turn around. Seeing me free, they scramble for their weapons.

Now… I have a choice here.

I can absolutely remove these cuffs, charge them and take them down with my fists.

However… wouldn’t it be so much more satisfying if I took them down with both hands _literally_ tied behind my back?

So I do _that._

I charge one of the men and slam my body into him. He stumbles backwards and gives up on grabbing his weapon, resorting to fight me with this bare hands. Dumbass. His first swing is slow and clumsy and I dodge it effortlessly before spinning around and delivering a swift kick to his stomach, he doubles over and vomits on the ground.

The other guy managed to get his gun, but seems to be having trouble firing it.

Safety, moron.

A high kick sends the gun flying. He’s clutching his wrist now, I think I may have broken something.

**_BANG!_ **

Pain shoots up from my left thigh and I almost topple over.

Three. There were _three_ men. One of them was one the ground but he’s _not_ now.His nose is still bleeding but he’s holdning a smoking gun and there’s a piece of lead lodged in me.

Fucked.

The prick with vomit on his chin slams into me and suddenly I’m on the floor again and there are guns pointed at my face.

“You go whad? I reckod dis bitsh id too buch trouble to take in alibe.”

I start chuckling and it turns into a full on cackle. This really isn’t the time but _holy shit._

_“WHAD?”_ Broke-nose shouts.

“I’m- I’m s-sorry, It’s just- I can’t fucking take you seriously talking like that!” I say, failing miserably to control my laughter.

“Lisded here bitsh-”

I’m practically howling now.

“I HAB A GUD POINDED AD YOU!”

His partners are trying not to laugh now. I’m so busy laughing my ass off I almost miss my opening.

The idiot turned away. He’s chastising his partners. _Nobody_ is looking.

Restraining my laughter, I snap my thumbs out of place and free my arms, and jump to my feet. Running hurts like hell but I don’t have much of a choice. I’m at the other end of the alley when the CVEN idiots finally notice me, my grapple gun is in my hands and I’m about to fire it at one of the rooftops.

“It’s been fun, but let’s call it a draw!” I yell, trying not to think of the red droplets that fly out of my mouth as I speak. 

I’ve fired the grapple gun and am shooting towards the roof when they finally fire their weapons, bullets flying where I was less than a second ago.

I don’t stop running and vaulting over rooftops until I’m 7 blocks away. Slowing down was a mistake, as my adrenaline fades I finally feel what that fight _did_ to my body. There’s blood all over my suit, in my hair, a few of my teeth are chipped and my lip is bleeding, there’s holes in me where there shouldn’t be holes, and apparently my right thumb is still out of place.

And oh yeah. There’s a knife in my stomach. That’s not good. At all.

And yet, I’m smiling.

I’m beaten bloody, in urgent need of medical attention.

And there’s only _one_ woman in the city I can go to.


End file.
